Verandah Garden
 

I've spoken about my pots with herbs etc a number of times on this forum, so I thought I'd take a picture (or two) and show you what I'm talking about.

Attachment 15329
Chilli tree and Shallots


Attachment 15330
Basil, Rosemary, Oregano and Lettuce

Attachment 15331
Mint, Basil and Thyme



Attachment 15332
More Basil, Parsely and Chives

Back Verandah
 

These are shots of my back verandah where I've decided to start growing a few salad veges for summer salads.

Attachment 15333



Attachment 15334

Attachment 15335
Zucchini - I only planted the seedling for this plant about 3 weeks ago.


Attachment 15336
These are two of the pots I planted out on the weekend. There's cucumber, lettuce, bok choy, capsicum, eggplant, more lettuce, more tomatoes, squash and some more zucchini.

Are .... you going .... to Scar---borough fair?

:jealous:

and lovely to hear/read the word verandah/veranda again ...last used by my grandparents in the UK in the 80s. I loved their veranda -attached to their loggia -another word I haven't heard in forever. :)

Ha! This year, I arranged my herbs according to the order in that song. :D

I like my verandah. On the front one I have a small couch, and on the back one there's a rocking chair.

Oh give me a home amongst the gum trees...

good for you!

I miss gardening...

Are you having fun Zen? lol

Gardening is something I never used to like doing, but I find as I'm growing up it's something I really enjoy. Maybe you could try the pot thing rkz? at least the garden is then at about the right height for you to reach without too much trouble.

I believe RK has indeed "tried the pot thing", thank you very much.

Yes I am having fun getting all folk-musical today. I wonder how many non-Aussies got the second one?

I dunno...but I did...thankyou very much! ;)

The only thing I've been successful growing in the ground is grape tomatoes, which I love. It seems like nothing else does well. I have pots like yours for my herbs, and they do just fine. My soil has red clay about 14 inches below the surface - not good for drainage or root growth. :sniff:

A lot of quick growing veges don't need much root growth spexx. Things like lettuce and bok choy for example. You should also be able to grow other salad type veges such as capsicum (you guys call them peppers I think). Also brocoli and cabbage etc would do fine too.

Just try turning the soil over with some fertilizers high in phosphate. If you can get hold of some kind of chook poo and water it down then sprinkle it on the soil during this process that'd be helpfull too. Let it sit and mulch down for a week or two (which is quite necessary if you use chook poo because otherwise it can burn the seedlings when you put them in) then away you go.

You can also get stuff to break up clay soil if you want to increase the depth, but the best thing really is to build up what you've got and put a frame around the outside for your garden bed.

I had a frame, and roto-tilled in peat moss, manure, and compost every spring, covered the soil with "no weed" cloth and heeped mulch on top, but it didn't seem to help. Peppers and tomatoes were small, broccoli didn't work, and zucchini died after producing 3 or 4 zucs.

What is chook poo?

poultry shit is chook poo.

Have you thought about getting your soil tested? Perhaps it's either too acid or too alkaline. Either way you can fix that. Zucchini like good drainage or their roots rot. Same with most other salad type veges. It's probably because of the clay basin (which I've had to deal with before) so you need to get the stuff to break it down. I'm having a mental blank on what the stuff is you need, but you can buy it in large bags and it's white powdery stuff. I'll remember the name later and come back and post it.

Gypsum is the stuff. You sow it into the soil as you would your dry fertilizer and manure but you put it in before the fertilizer and manure.

Frankly, anybody who watched Steve Irwin's memorial service got that reference. However, Aussie folk hasn't yet scored a huge audience in the States. Folk aficionados are no doubt importing their discs from online dealers these days.

I didn't watch the memorial service, so I've no idea what was on it.